Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, I am rising today to welcome this statement on education leadership. Wales has a proud heritage of high-quality teachers and school leadership. However, the announcement of the establishment of the current shadow academy board last November was widely welcomed. It is indeed heartening to hear that the shadow board has made a proficient start, and I welcome very much the fact that we’re looking at best practice from around the globe, including Canada, Singapore and New Zealand. Too often, time and energy is dissipated in attempting to reinvent the wheel when other education systems have already found creative solutions to shared problems. As the plan for the leadership academy evolves, can I ask whether the series of regional roadshows will include Islwyn? Additionally, how will these roadshows be advertised to stakeholders, and how will busy professionals, as has already been mentioned, be encouraged to attend and participate?

I would like, today, to acknowledge the work of your predecessor, Huw Lewis, who stated, when he announced the Welsh Government’s new leadership strategy, that

‘We know that school and college leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning—and this will be paramount over the coming years.’

Cabinet Secretary, from your statement, I note that you signpost, from September 2017, that we will have a range of common programmes available for professionals. Do you have an estimate of how many of our school leaders will be able to access these programmes, and what guarantees, at this early stage, can we receive of consistent access across Wales?